The development of complex systems containing multiple subsystems and components presents significant reliability and maintainability challenges. As a consequence, various methods and systems have been proposed for detecting, diagnosing and correcting faults in such systems. Applications for automated self-diagnostic systems range from the computer industry, through industrial machinery, to aerospace applications.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,081, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for automatically generating a repair request from a remote client to a server, wherein the client identifies the malfunctioning part and transmits an error notification and an identification of the faulty part to the server. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,645, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a device for identifying faults in a complex system containing a plurality of elements. The device has a centralized processing station monitoring a system of complex elements, which issue fault cues to the central processing station.
Some fault monitoring systems utilize historical information from previous fault events. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,395, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system and method for processing repair data and fault log data from one or more machines to facilitate analysis of a malfunctioning machine, particularly applied to the locomotive industry. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,264, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a process, relating to the locomotive industry, for analyzing fault log data from a machine, and generating repair recommendations based upon the comparison of the new fault log data and prior fault log data.
Relating to computer systems, U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,852, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a data-processing system that diagnoses problems in one of its subsystems and displays information directing an operator to perform certain actions. The information is based upon the subsystem configuration, previous test results, and operator inputs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,491, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method of automatically detecting and analyzing exception events in a computer peripheral subsystem. A database is searched to determine whether the current exception event relates to a problem already recorded. If a match is found, a service alert message is transmitted to the host system, containing a variety of information for the subsystem user and for a repair technician.